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Kevin Haskin: Lockett sparkles again for Wildcats

Despite incredible talent, junior requests extra practice time

Kansas State's Tyler Lockett starts to celebrate after making a touchdown catch against Michigan during the first half of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl game on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz. Lockett capped K-State's first three possessions with TD receptions from quarterback Jake Waters to jump start the Wildcat's 31-14 victory, their first bowl win in 11 years.

TEMPE, Ariz. — The subject was raised — maybe in jest, maybe not — late in the regular season.

Tyler Lockett had just covered 440 all-purpose yards to set a Kansas State record.

“Right after the game,’’ recalled quarterback Daniel Sams, “I was saying, ‘Lockett, you can leave if you want to.’ He said he’s probably going to come back, though.’’

After the junior wide receiver’s performance in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on Saturday, Lockett could have stated his intentions to declare for the NFL draft and no one would have quibbled, though Mel Kiper Jr. did not occupy the press room at Sun Devil Stadium.

Michigan defenders had no clue how to contain the Wildcats’ swift receiver. Ronda Rousey might have been stumped. Lockett set a K-State bowl record with 10 receptions and tied a BWW Bowl record with three touchdown catches as K-State toppled Michigan, 31-14.

And no, nothing was mentioned about Lockett coming out as a junior.

Seems he’s too busy practicing for the Wildcats.

“You don’t have time to do very much (at the bowl site),’’ K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “It’s practice, shower, get on the bus, go someplace, et cetera, et cetera. After the first day, Tyler came up to me and said, ‘Coach, I want to stay after practice. How can we work this out?’ So we worked it out. That’s the nature of Tyler Lockett.’’

The Wolverines could have spent every minute of their time in the desert practicing and still not latched on to Lockett. He made Michigan look both silly and overmatched, grabbing TD strikes of 6, 29 and 8 yards from quarterback Jake Waters to cap the Wildcats’ first three drives.

Their 21-6 halftime lead fulfilled the directive Snyder issued before the bowl invitation was ever extended.

“That was the emphasis,’’ said Snyder, “being able to start better.’’

It was something K-State failed to do in recent bowls as its postseason losing streak grew to five and extended over 11 seasons.

So for the Wildcats, the early breakout boosted confidence. It also hurt the Wolverines, who were starting a freshman quarterback, Shane Morris, for the first time. Morris was thrust into some obvious passing situations, and while he went 24 of 38 for 196 yards, Michigan did not score a touchdown until 1:15 remained.

“I don’t know how many times he ended up throwing it,’’ said Wolverines coach Brady Hoke, “but more than we’d like.’’

K-State could have played catch all night, and won by a wider margin, but instead balanced its attack with 36 rushes. The Cats totaled 420 yards.

The plan was sound — mix a variety of rushes and passes, while capitalizing on the mismatches involving Lockett. Waters executed the calls with his best performance to date. The junior-college transfer completed 21 of 27 passes for 271 yards, while adding 54 yards on 12 carries. Waters synched with teammates to go 7 for 11 on third down, converting on the first five.

Any concerns were eliminated by spotting Lockett, who finished with 116 yards receiving.

“Anytime you’ve got a route and he’s one-on-one, I’m looking for him,’’ Waters said. “I think he’s going to win it. He knows he’s going to win it. I just have that confidence in him. He’s such a special player.’’

Others chipped in. Tramaine Thompson closed his career with four catches for 56 yards. Curry Sexton, who returns as an unsung possession receiver, added three catches for 37 yards. And yes, K-State again let Waters fake a run and then throw over the top to fullback Glenn Gronkowski, who rumbled 46 yards.

The romp over the winningest major-college program in history was convincing. In all likelihood, the victory will serve as a nice springboard into a promising 2014 season.

There is work to do, though. Lockett actually dropped what would have been a touchdown in the third quarter after also fumbling a ball the Cats recovered. Neither of those plays proved to be harmful, but they are the reason Lockett works after practice with a live quarterback if he can find one, or the Jugs machine if he cannot.

“You don’t want to be the person to lose the game,’’ he said. “Then you have an icky feeling for seven months, a week, two weeks, whatever it may be.’’

That feeling was all too familiar for K-State early in the 2013 season. They started 2-4 before winning six of their last seven games.

Next season, if the Cats pattern their habits after those of Lockett, they could bid for a Big 12 championship because of the large cast of key contributors who return. Foremost among them will be Lockett.

“I wish we had 130 young guys like that,’’ Snyder said. “If we had those kind of young people, we wouldn’t have been talking about losing those first three or four ballgames.’’